Through The Eyes Of A Liadan
by Aderiana
Summary: Ayanna never fit in back home. She wanted an adventure, a place to belong. But what does she do when the Gods answer her?
1. The Falling

  
By: Aderiana L. Galebrindel  
  
Note I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything connected to it. However Ayanna is mine and the unique aspects of situations she finds herself in. I receive nothing from this other then the joy it gives me to let the little bunnies in my head have their play time. Without further adieu, enjoy.  
  
Chapter one: The Falling  
  
Ayanna Reinfourth never had it easy growing up. Her abusive father left when she was still too small to remember much beyond the screaming and yelling and her mother usually dumped her off at a babysitter or daycare so she could wallow in her misery in peace. Of course with the troubled home life one will never be able to escape it out there in the rest of the world. It always seems to go from bad to worse doesn't it? So, being the epitimal image of a social outcast that she was, she spent most of her time running around the woods at her aunts, much to her aunt's chagrin.  
  
"That murky, foul smelling, sludge-watered excuse for a forest is going to swallow you alive one of these days!" her aunt would always remind her when she'd "sneak out" of the cabin. Oh how she wished it would. Little did she know, the gods had heard her and were willing to put her somewhere she'd feel she belonged.  
  
"Your mother's going to pick you up at 5:00 pm. So come done here and eat something before she gets here." She could hear her aunt call up the stairs.  
  
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" She grumbled. She hurriedly changed out of her pajamas into a pair of army pants, her brother's old navy fighter pilot undershirt with his numbers still stitched on the outer bicep of the right arm and her standard issue black army boots. She pulled her shoulder length (currently) black hair into a bun and put two hair sticks in it to keep it in place. After grabbing her skinning knife, flask, and water skin she headed downstairs.  
  
Noticing her niece's attire, her aunt questioned if she was intended on running off again so her mother couldn't take her away. She seemed satisfied on the answer of "Not just yet." They ate their supper in the usual silence. After cleaning up Ayanna noticed it was getting close to time. She glanced outside. Damn, there was going to be one hell of a storm tonight if her previous knowledge and experience told her anything. She could make it to the tree house before it hit. But, she'd have to leave soon. After seeing her aunt in the living room with her needlepoint she went back to the kitchen, filled her water skin then bolted out the front screen door. If she tried to sneak out she'd be caught. She could only run. That was the way it had always been.  
  
Ayanna's aunt didn't even bother to get up when the screen door slammed. She was waiting for it. Whenever her mother was coming she always ran for the hills. Ayanna would be gone for at least four days before she felt it safe to see the status of the house. How she lasted out there without taking anything with her was beyond the woman. But she managed. So long as she did that was all that mattered. Hopefully she would come back anyway due to the storm. According to the weather report it was going to be horrid.  
  
She reached her little tree fort just as the rains came pouring in sheets. The thunder had begun its low rumble just as she'd breached the lower limbs of her sanctuary. Upon entering she fumbled around for the candle beside the door and lit it. Upon setting it in it's holder she grabbed a towel from the corner and dried herself off the best she could then looked around.  
  
There wasn't much there but it was a place she considered home. Not big enough to strand straight in, or sit in the middle of the floor without touching the walls if she stretched her arms out, it housed everything she'd need. There was a bedroll back in the corner where she'd laid the towel and a leather backpack with a couple sets of clothing. The bag sat upon a crate where dried meat and fruits were housed in Tupperware. She rummaged through them to make sure there was nothing in them that shouldn't be. There was a small surgical kit and several scripts of various herbs incase she fell ill or had a wound that would be in need of treatment. Ayanna hated hospitals with a passion. It was one reason why she'd learned to heal with herbs. Those seemed to be ok. There were also extra candles and matches, a small scrip with eating utensils, a few skins from some of her catches, a cast iron cook pot and an iron rod for putting things on the spit. Another box held soap, toothpaste and brush, a comb and other hygienic things. Lastly was her pride and joy. A handcrafted bow she'd gotten from a hunter with a leather back quiver half full of arrows. Sitting on the ground was a long, thin, shallow box that contained shafts, heads, feathers and other necessities for when she needed to refill her quiver. The man that had taught her to hunt had never given his name. He was an elderly and very wise in the old ways. He'd shared much of her same views on the way society had grew and perverted. It was he who had made the bow and quiver. Who had taught her to fletch arrows and know how to make her aim true so she didn't waste them. She was by no means an expert but she wasn't a novice either.  
  
Everything was as it should be. She could hear the storm loud and clear outside. She was thankful for the dryness. When she went out scouting to morrow the bugs were going to strike something fierce. Chiding to herself she thought she would be used to the idea by now.  
  
"I wonder if that book of Poe is still up here?" she thought to herself. Idly going through the pack to see what she could find. Happy that she had found a book, not the one she wanted but it would suffice, she refolded her spare clothes and set the pack under her head for a pillow and began to read about various plants and their healing properties. It never hurt to brush up on old traits.  
  
After a while the storm dissipated to a low roar and the sound began to lull the adventurer asleep. Without adieu she set the book behind her pack and blew out the candle. Even though the temperature had dropped Ayanna was comfortable enough to leave the bedroll where it was. Closing her eyes she soon fell into a heavy sleep, not noticing that as she slept, the storm once again intensified.  
  
A loud bang bolted Ayanna upright, hand at the blade on her hip. There was no chance to draw it before the crash of thunder and a searing, blinding light enveloped her. Oh Light how it hurt! She wanted to scream but couldn't find her voice. Her mouth was open but if any sound came out it died on her lips. After seconds that lasted for a life age there was nothing. No pain. No light. Nothing. Just...black. She felt herself falling then Things were shifting all around her. Then a creak of wood splintering apart. Then water. So much water. There had never been this much below the tree. The river was too far for it to be flooded up to here. Wait, everything was leaving again. Why couldn't she move? Nothing more came to her after that.  
  
"For the love of the Light my head hurts." she grumbled. She scrubbed at her eyes then wished she hadn't. Her hands were as covered in mud and muck as the rest of her. The sky above her was overcast and looked ready to rain at any moment. And low and behold the bugs were about. Big surprise there. She sat up on her elbows and scanned herself then her surroundings. "Ok this is new." Ayanna took in the marsh like geography around her. As she scanned she could see several of her things sitting here and there amongst the more solid places.  
  
She stood and found that that her flask was still in her side pocket and her long knife at her belt. Sitting a few paces to her right was her bow, quiver and kit; which oddly enough looked completely clean. Even the fletching looked untouched. "May as well see what else of my things followed me."  
  
An hours worth of searching brought up her pack with her clothes, three safe to eat Tupperware of food.; two of dried meat and the other of dried apple and banana chips. The others had busted open or had been leaked into. Her water skin turned up a little way from there. The only other useful things were her hygiene box, and drying cloth, and a couple scripts of herbs. She packed it all away into her bag or bits and pieces into her pant pockets. Surmising that she wasn't as dirty as she thought (she at least cleaned her face off the best she could) then put her pack and quiver over her back and hefted her bow.  
  
She glanced up at the sky. "Can't tell what time of day it is. Mid morning by shadow cast maybe." Sighing she began to trudge along South- West. There seemed to be a break away from the hellish marshes and a forest in the distance. At least on a solid shore she could see if anything had been along that way.  
  
Sometime after noon she stopped and pulled out a couple pieces of the dried meat and sat against a tree. She had found some semblance of a path but it was one not used often or recently. Now she sat a little off the path and ate and watched. Things were quiet for the most part. Nothing but the usual sounds of the forest. When she had stood she caught a sound in the distance, is was approaching fast from the direction she was heading. Hoof beats. She knocked an arrow and hid out of sight just in case. Horses weren't brought into her forest. The ground was too rough on them. Then again, she was in a part that she didn't recognize. Where had she gone anyway? Somewhere upstream? Can't think on that. The rider was coming much closer.  
  
The poor beast was being ridden hard. When arriving some twenty yards from her stand it slowed and stopped.  
  
"I think we should take a rest my friend." The voice was distinctly male and elderly. But there was something else in the voice. The same wise resonation that her friend had had in his. She dared a glance around her hiding spot and saw the backside of a man cloaked in grey with a peculiar crooked conical hat on his head. He pulled a walking stick from beneath the leg latch on the saddle and pulled his dapple mare over to a decent sized pool of water.  
  
As he began to sit a sound from the trees made him turn. He expected some fell creature to fall upon him. But instead there was a young, slight female. She appeared to be around nineteen or twenty. Rather attractive in a dangerous sort of way. Her black hair was pulled tightly against the back of her head and the strange clothing she was dressed in was fairly muddy and still damp. She looked as though she had jumped into the marshes with her clothes on. She seemed harmless despite the long knife at her hip and the set form of her jaw. She was also alone. There was a curious notion.  
  
"It is dangerous for a young woman to be out on her own in these woods. Who are you and what is your purpose?" he asked, leaning more on his staff.  
  
"If I give you my name will you give me yours?" she asked, stepping from the tree line. He nodded. "I am Ayanna Reinfourth. As for my purpose..." she paused, obviously unsure of how to answer. "I suppose to find out where I am. I am unfamiliar with this part of the woods. And in all actuality, I'm beginning to have the sinking suspicion I'm nowhere near the woodlands I'm used to."  
  
"You speak with a strange tongue. It is not one I am familiar with. Where do you dwell?"  
  
"Just south of Yellowstone."  
  
"Yellowstone?" The name seemed that of a Haven to him.  
  
"You've never heard of it?" she asked.  
  
He could only shake his head.  
  
"May I ask what the name of this place is? And once more for yours as well?"  
  
"My apologies. We stand South-West of the Midgewater Marshes. And I am Gandalf the Grey. 


	2. The Grey Pilgrim

Chapter Two: The Grey Pilgrim  
  
"Are you in much of hurry?" she asked.  
"I will rest for a while. Why?" he asked.  
"Perhaps we could talk. If you hungry I have some dried fruits and meat. And water if you thirst."  
"That is very kind of you. I would like to know more about you and this Yellowstone."  
  
The pair sat down and ate a bit of fruit and drank as they conversed.  
"You said you feel you are not near home. May I ask why that is so?"  
It'd probably be best if I started with the story beforehand for it to be understood."  
"Please, go on."  
"I had run off to the woods near my aunts to get away from my mother. I wasn't ready to leave yet. I was headed off to this talan I'd built with an old friend of mine. There was a bad storm coming in so I figured I would stay there until it had blown on through." He acknowledged that would be a wise choice and pulled another apple chip from the container he'd toyed with earlier. "I ended up falling asleep but woke sometime later by this loud noise. I heard thunder and then there was this bright flash. I couldn't see. All I could feel was pain everywhere. Then things went dark and there was wood creaking and then water. So much more then there should have been. Then as soon as it started...everything stopped." she paused as if recontemplating the situation.  
"How so?"  
"I'm not really sure. It's like nothing even existed. There was no pain, no light, no dark, no water...nothing. Then I seemed to fall. After that I wake with one nightmarish headache back in those marshes. Of which I am sure I'm carrying the smell with me. " Both laughed at the last statement.  
"You do not smell as foul as you may think." He could tell there was more behind what she had told hi, though she did not seem to realize it herself. So there was more amiss in Middle Earth then the One Ring being found again.  
"You wouldn't be lying just to make me feel better would you?"  
"On my honor." He smiled, putting hi hand up in a way similar to a boy scout.  
"So tell me about this place. Are there any cities around?"  
"You are closest to the town of Bree. I had just come from there. I am on my way to seek council with the head of my order about a rather urgent matte." he said simply.  
Her eyes widened. "I am very sorry for keeping you here with idle chatter. You should have spoken earlier."  
"I think speaking with you has been just as important. May I ask where you intend to go?"  
  
Ayanna only shrugged. In truth she didn't know. She wasn't sure how she came to be in the place she was in. Maybe the storm had had something to do with it. She'd read about people going to other places when storms rampaged or the northern lights where more active then usual. But those were just that, stories. Maybe she was dreaming it all. But then again maybe not. Hey gut told her this was the real McCoy. Then there was the sensible nagging thought that said this was all made up. For all she knew, the man before her could be someone who liked to pretend to be someone else. Something that couldn't exist otherwise. But then again, how did she get to wherever she was? More importantly...why?  
The older man leaned a little closer to her. "I would like to speak with you further on this matter. But, I'm afraid time is against me. You a four days hard walk from Bree if you walk hard through nightfall. Would you be willing to meet a friend of mine till I can speak with you again?"  
"I don't see why not. So long as I won't be imposing upon them."  
Gandalf smiled. "I had hoped you would say that." He dipped into his pocket and pulled out a smooth oval piece of clay with a strange symbol on one side. "Go to the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. Seek a man named Strider and give this to him so he will know I sent you. He is there on a task for me as well. Tell him I would like for you to travel with him till I can speak with you again. Did you follow all that?"  
"Bree, four days hard walk, Prancing Pony Inn, Strider, give signet and tell purpose. Got it."  
"Wonderful." He handed the stone to her and she slid it into the front pouch of her knife sheath.  
"What if he's not there?" she questioned as she tided up her bag with the bowls of food. They had not eating much and she still had enough for a couple weeks if she rationed right.  
He will be there a day before you I imaging. I trust you can fend for yourself if you run around all on your own?"  
"I can fend for myself well enough."  
"Straight as the crow flies will bring you to Bree by sunset four days from now." He said walking to his horse and putting his staff where it had been before. Ayanna followed and held the stirrup for him as he mounted. "Leaving you on your own is against my better judgment. Unfortunately, I cannot accompany you. "  
Ayanna combed the mare's forelock with a smile and patted down her neck. "Don't think on it. I get told I play too roughly with the other children all the time. Two more questions and I'll head on my way."  
He picked up the reins and watched as his mare nuzzled her arm affectionately. "Yes."  
"Bree is straight in the direction you came from?"  
"It is." He nodded curtly.  
"This Strider friend of yours is honorable?"  
"One of the most honorable men I know. He will not try to take advantage of you, if that is what you fear." He replied with a smirk.  
"He wouldn't live long enough do that. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to slap him around for being a letch." She replied in all sincerity.  
"You'll be just fine." He gave her a wink and nodded his leave.  
From there they turned and headed off their own separate ways. 


End file.
